I refuse to pay for Sky Sports because the coverage is so bad. Their pre and post-race coverage is so stale and uninteresting. Even if I just tune in for the race, I can't stand Croft. He's an absolutely awful commentator. Horrible, glossy, tabloid presentation. Awful news for F1 and wider motorsport in the UK.

At a time when F1 is in a very delicate position it appears to have shot itself in the foot once more. UK viewing figures will nosedive

Nothing more to add. FTA is so important for the sport....

Bernie gives no f**ks. As the sport loses more and more viewers he simply charges more and more to get the same return. This is the beginning of the end for F1. As it becomes increasingly difficult for casual and younger viewers to watch the sport a generational disconnect will happen and it will never recover.

Such depressing news and will be the final end of F1 being any sort of relevant, mainstream sport. Will be purely niche sport for the rich. Also, I currently get the F1 channel via the old HD pack but some how I think there's about a 1% chance that I will still be able to once Sky get complete coverage.

The only crumb of comfort is that F1 will still have some presence on FTA. When I first saw this thread, I feared F1 was going to be exclusive to SKY altogether. It's still really **** though, not only is FTA important for the sport's exposure, but also Sky's F1 coverage has been a mixed bag at best. I didn't want it to become even more prominent.

Bernie gives no f**ks. As the sport loses more and more viewers he simply charges more and more to get the same return. This is the beginning of the end for F1. As it becomes increasingly difficult for casual and younger viewers to watch the sport a generational disconnect will happen and it will never recover.

That's the key thing. As well as the appalling rule making that have delivered dull racing and ugly cars that lack noise. Now that big, noisy engines are a thing of the past, you're never going to hook casual young viewers in this day and age. Even less so with all the live content behind a paywall. This has probably just accelerated the death of F1 (in the UK) by a few years.

Interesting. I guess they were feeling a bit threatened by C4's coverage and were looking to knock the wind out of their sails. I'm sure they had to be placated when the highlights deal was passed over to C4. So they entered negotiations with Bernie for post 2018. I hope they got a good deal because their viewer numbers are poor and in decline.

Did anyone predict the end of Moto GP when that was removed from UK FTA? I’d say F1 has more to worry about currently in terms of it’s state of health and future prospects than who can watch it where in the UK.

The thing is on the one hand you have Sky.. a huge organisation with a huge team that’s willing to invest.. willing to throw a lot of weight at it’s coverage and willing to sign long term deals with the promotor. They are in it 100%. It’s long term commercial security.

On the other hand.. you have flakey FTA channels like the BBC who at the drop of a hat decide F1 isn’t important enough for their budgets and they pull the plug on their coverage with little warning. For all we know Channel 4 were unwilling to give any assurances about the future and perhaps ITV had already said “Sorry, we’re not interested”. So what is Bernie to do? He’s going to take the Sky money. It was inevitable.

This deal wouldn’t have happened if the BBC had kept their interest in F1. FTA sports coverage is in a shocking state in this country. It’s been on a gradual decline for years now. It should be no surprise that F1 is yet another sport to disappear. It won’t be the last. Before getting angry at Sky and Bernie take a look at the lack of alternatives and ask questions there. The BBC were once upon a time the kings of sports coverage.. now they are embarrassingly having to pick a hand full of key sports to bid for because they’re running out of money. Mostly because of bad management decisions.

It’s not all bad news. Sky are offering highlights for free which currently is all you really need to follow the races. Those who care about the live package will subscribe. It’s that simple really. The sport will go on.

**** OFF, Bernie. What happens in 2024 when nobody's watching? Sky'll ditch F1 and it'll end up being sold at a vastly reduced price to some commercial channel or another. So, bad for the fans in the short term and bad for the sport in the long term. Not that Bernie has to think that far ahead...

That's really sad. There's going to be loads of people like my dad who've been fans all their lives who just won't get to see F1 any more. He's not going to get a sky box just for this one thing. This blows.

Beyond the point of actually paying for Sky (Which I NEVER will as they are one of the biggest rip off merchants around), their coverage is absolutely terrible!! Pre race, the commentary (Even Brundle seems to be losing interest), post race, their quality of analysis - it's all just ****. I won't even get into Croft - The worst commentator around.

As a new fan, or existing one without Sky, you'd be out of your mind to pay for this garbage. Sky's viewing figures were down 30% this weekend - It will only get worse.

Sky says the British GP will be shown live for free and highlights will be free. But if you don't have Sky, that's it, it would appear

Free to Sky users ie you don't have to pay for the F1 channel specifically

It looks like Silverstone will be genuinely free to air like those Champions League/Europa League matches BT show on their (little publicised) BT Sport Showcase channel so Sky could use PICK and/or make a channel free to air for the weekend. There will be two extra races on Sky Sports Mix (launching in the Summer) where you will need to be a Sky (but not Sky Sports) customer.

Happy as this should pretty much end my involvement in F1 . The racing was getting worse and worse, the spectacle at an actual race is crap and the ticket fees are ridiculous. The F1 world lives in a bubble and would prefer if team bosses sit in the grandstands once in a while and watch on TV and appreciate the "product".

Beyond the point of actually paying for Sky (Which I NEVER will as they are one of the biggest rip off merchants around), their coverage is absolutely terrible!! Pre race, the commentary (Even Brundle seems to be losing interest), post race, their quality of analysis - it's all just ****.

As a new fan, or existing one without Sky, you'd be out of your mind to pay for this garbage. Sky's viewing figures were down 30% this weekend - It will only get worse.

They might reshuffle their team as a result though and change their coverage style... Plenty of new faces available to bring in.

Hey, who remembers tuning into Red Button for free practice, only for some over-running tennis match to be shown instead? I'll agree Sky's pre-race stuff could be better (having to fit in ad breaks naturally leads to some of this, features have to fit each part and it's hard not to have presenters talking either side of the break) but on the whole paying for Sky with a dedicated channel is well worth it to the frustration that came from missing sessions at random like that.

GP2 and GP3 coverage, plus classic races, just serves to sweeten the deal.

That I do not doubt at all, just to have a feel for what F1 is looking at in the UK, something like

When only BBC carried F1 - Average was 10 million viewers.

When BBC and Sky shared in which ever confabulated fashion that was set up - Average 7 million viewers.

Once Sky go it alone - Projected Average will be 1 million viewers.

What is now happening in the UK is exactly why F1 is struggling, removing it from easy access to somewhere at a price and hidden to many (most?) casual viewers. The drivers came out today with a letter, this board have agreed and disagreed on a number of ways to 'fix' F1, the Powers in place have for the past 10 years been acting oblivious to the market they exist in, to the detriment of themselves and the sport.

We have just this week seen how the supposed premier internet media for F1 and Autoracing act oblivious to the requirements and expectations from their core customers, I will expect to the detriment of them and their business, I know I am not alone in seeking news other places, I am not alone in seeking value added services for free other places.

As a new fan, or existing one without Sky, you'd be out of your mind to pay for this garbage. Sky's viewing figures were down 30% this weekend - It will only get worse.

Over 12 million customers will have access to F1 highlights. If anything Sky's current F1 audience will grow substantially now they can show F1 outside of their subscription channel for free to normal Sky TV viewers in the form of highlights.

The same as we have in Spain then, F1 only on pay-per-view. They're really stupid, aren't they? Sponsors want as much viewers as posible to sell their products. With this, less and less sponsors will want to be involved in F1.